Writing this post had me pondering how I feel about commercials. In short, they really don't bother me. Since I write about TV and movies, I have a work-related TV in my office, and I use those few minutes here and there to slam through some work or get caught up on whatever show I'm recapping. In fact, while watching commercial-free shows on HBO and Showtime, I actually miss those little interludes.
But, apparently, Fox hasn't been peering through my window, because at their upfront presentation yesterday morning, they announced their "Remote-Free TV" idea. Two new dramas, J.J. Abrams' Fringe and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, will air with reduced network commercial breaks -- just five minutes per hour, or about half the usual.
"It's a simple concept and potentially revolutionary," said Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori. "We're going to have less commercials, less promotional time, and less reason for viewers to use the remote. We're going to redefine the viewing experience."
You might be wondering how they're going to pay for those pricey sci-fi shows, especially in light of the fact that without commercials, the episodes will be longer. The answer: Charge advertisers a premium.
Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly acknowledged that reducing commercials is risky business, but said there needs to be a "paradigm shift" in network TV.
Ad buyers were generally upbeat about the idea. "We're always clamoring for an uncluttered environment," said Carat Media's Andy Donchin, but said he'll hold final judgment until he sees how much the premium will be.
Fringe and Dollhouse are the highlights of Fox's six new shows -- the most any broadcaster presented at the upfronts.
What do you think? Is this a big deal? Or, like me, are you underwhelmed with the news?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-16-2008 @ 10:17AM
Dragulf said...
I hate most commercials myself and if you think there are only 10 minutes worth of commercials every hour, I have some swampland in Arizona to sell you.
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5-16-2008 @ 10:32AM
MacGuffin said...
I agree. There are much more than 10 minutes of commercials per hour. On average, it is nearing 18 minutes with the paid adverts, network promotions and local news advances.
The main problem I have is that the broadcast networks now have commercials every 8 minutes or so (instead of 12-14 minutes of the past) so a drama has no chance of gaining any momentum . . . then poof, a commercial break.
5-16-2008 @ 10:33AM
Dragulf said...
I forgot to add a smile at the end of my post. Unless ya do want to buy some swampland. :)
5-16-2008 @ 11:01AM
Joel Keller said...
I was wondering that, too, when I looked at Jane's post. I don't think the source article explains it well. I think Fox is reducing the network breaks, not all the breaks. That might mean less promos for House and less national ads. Not sure. The Hollywood Reporter article is very oddly worded.
5-16-2008 @ 10:20AM
Ed said...
Anything that gets rid of adverts is a good idea imo. I know the networks/producers rely on advertising for their budget, but after three years of Internet/Torrent TV, I am unable to go back to adverts - I'll refuse to watch the first-run and wait for the torrents.
I've said it before, but I would pay 50p/$1 for an episode of The Office, as a full DivX to use as I wish, which over a season would be the cost of a DVD, with no physical costs to the producers (e.g. DVD manufacture, shipping, shop-space and staff, delivery costs,).
Until then, I'm not watching TV.
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5-16-2008 @ 10:24AM
Ryan said...
People still watch TV live?
Heh, I'm half kidding. Yeah I guess this is good. I mean if they bring out the huge moving ads in the bottom of the screen for most of the show, it'll be a moot point anyways.
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5-16-2008 @ 10:39AM
George said...
Five minutes per HALF-hour would be 50% of the usual -- perhaps someone dropped a word? Typical length of an hour-long is 41:30 these days, with sitcoms coming in somewhere between 20:30 and 22:00.
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5-16-2008 @ 10:54AM
Scott said...
Ryan mentioned my fear: that in place of commercials, there will be even more flashing crap at the bottom of the screen. Commercials don't bother me nearly as much as that stuff. Networks need to leave their actual content ALONE, and stop using it as the background image for their animated promotions of other material. The network bug is bad enough--all the other junk is horrible. I have a feeling that "Fringe" and "Dollhouse" will have even more of that dreck to make up for the reduced commercial time.
So, fewer commercials and more show? Great idea. Probable compensation with more onscreen crap DURING the show? Horrible.
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5-16-2008 @ 10:57AM
Andy Grey said...
5 minutes is half? Get off your DVR and fact check
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5-16-2008 @ 10:58AM
hjjugovic said...
I like this news for a different reason: seems like FOX is really putting some support behind these shows, and I'd like to see them both succeed, so yay!
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5-16-2008 @ 11:03AM
MrsEldubya said...
I agree with MacGuffin, when they changed the format of dramas so they could fit in syndication better, that killed alot of shows for me. I would rather have a 5 min commercial break so that the story line can unfold better than breaking it up they way they do now.
Maybe they are going to do their shows like some shows do their premier.... one sponsor, with an intro, one break in the middle and then once again at the end. I liked how 24, The Shield, or Rescue Me have done some of their episodes with limited commercial breaks in the past.
I know our daughter and her husband watch more shows on DVD or on the web now. They prefer the commercial free versions of the shows and are willing to wait for the DVD box set or download them from Amazon or iTunes. I know I have downloaded some shows so I can get the commercial free version too but I have two Tivo's so that I can zip through commercials as much as possible.
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5-16-2008 @ 11:06AM
Darren said...
The less irritating advertising the better - but I agree with Ryan and Scott - there will be more flash advertising during the show - which is even more irritating so the show will lose viewers and then be canceled in 2 weeks - this is FOX were talking about - if it's not american idol it's not going to last!
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5-16-2008 @ 11:09AM
Oreo said...
In what universe are you living in? TV shows are 42 or 44 minutes long, that means 15 minutes of commercials. So half of 15 is 5?
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5-16-2008 @ 11:28AM
jboursaw said...
Thanks for jumping in there, Joel. I wondered about that, too. Here's the actual wording from The Hollywood Reporter story by Paul J. Gough and James Hibberd, and looking at it in the light of day, I think the "pods" and "promos" must be two different things:
"Both 'Fringe' and 'Dollhouse' would have network commercial loads of about five minutes per hour, about half the usual. The commercial pods would also be shorter and they would have about half the promo load, as well."
Translation, anyone?
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5-16-2008 @ 12:04PM
0megapart!cle said...
I think all this means is that these two shows are going to have 5 minutes less commercials than usual. Which is very good, and welcome, but not nearly as revolutionary as the suits are making it appear. If this actually means that the length of these shows will be in the 46-47 minute range, that will be welcome news.
Although I do wonder if these shows last long enough to hit syndication, whether they will be cut down by 5 minutes.
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5-16-2008 @ 12:08PM
Jeff N. said...
A typical 60 minute show has 42 minutes of Content and 18 minutes of commercials.
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5-16-2008 @ 12:24PM
Carissa said...
Definitely 18 minutes of commercials on the typical drama, some even more. I watch three hours of TV on Thursdays. I start it 30 minutes in so I can skip through most of the commercials. I am caught up real time at about two hours and 40 minutes. Hate that.
I used to score for FantasyTeeVee, so it was very apparent just how much time is taken on commercials.
As for the idea - I'm not sure what they hope to gain by it. I like that they are thinking quality over quantity, however, so I'm willing to go along for the ride.
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5-16-2008 @ 12:47PM
Midnight13 said...
This is just the latest way that teleivion shows are competing with networks like HBO and Showtime. Its also a way for these big budgeted series to present themselves more cinematically. Every time there is a commercial break on my favorite shows I never sit and watch the commericals. I go get something to eat/drink, I often mute the television, anything to avoid just sitting watching commericals. So less commericals sounds good to me.
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5-16-2008 @ 1:28PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
I wish they would do like the old days and have 1 sponsor per show. Give them a couple minutes at the beginning and a couple towards the end. 24 did this for their premiere a few times with Ford Trucks and they even had an action short one time. The commercial breaks don't really bother me as I've mastered just when to hit play while ff thru the ads on my Tivo. It's all that crap they throw on the screen now that pisses me off. I wonder if in the future our fav shows will be shown in a little box in the upper right corner and the other 3/4 will have ads running? They may even be nice enough to throw in a free ad ticker at the bottom for us.
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5-16-2008 @ 4:15PM
hessian said...
Not all of the commercials that air in an hour are from the network.
There are also commercial breaks for your local station.
Sounds like FOX is cutting back on the length of the network breaks - not the number of breaks.
The local breaks will probably stay the same - local stations won't want to give up the airtime.
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